Sex, guts, the Needle: 10 things you should know about Chuck Palahniuk

The day after his book reading at the University of Washington, shock author Chuck Palahniuk went to the University Bookstore to sign copies of his new book, “Snuff.” He stood at the counter, with the reminder “call mom,” written on his hand, the one making the books collector’s items. He talked about:

Chuck Palahniuk (Getty Images)

1. The body count of people passing out during his reading of “Guts” reached about 150.

“The most we ever had was in England, when 13 people hit the floor in one reading.”

2. The best story he has been told coming out of Seattle lately was about airplane blankets.

“When people join the Mile High Club these days, they don’t do it in the bathroom,” he said. “They just get one of those little blankets and do whatever manipulation they can under there. Then the stewardesses fold them up and put them back in the overhead compartment for the next flight.”

3. He learned German for a European book tour, and that inspired the style of his next book, “Pygmy.”

“I was in front of these large audiences, and I meant to say, ‘It’s surprising how many German writers have influenced me,’ but I ended up saying three different times, ‘It’s surprising how many German writers have been inside of me.'”

“It’s this super swanky place in Belltown, I think you need a membership to get in, and we ended up eating our meal under this huge taxidermied elephant,” he said.

5. People now feel comfortable telling him their inner most secrets.

“When Fight Club came out, people would always ask me where they could find a Fight Club in their ZIP code, and that took years to pass,” he said. “Since ‘Rant’ came out, they come up to me at signings and tell me their most horrific sex stories.”

6. Four more of his books are set to become movies, in addition to “Choke,” which is due out in September: “Survivor,” “Lullaby,” “Rant” and “Diary.”

“I first set out to do something in a book that movies could never do, but I think these last two (“Fight Club” and “Survivor”) translated really well to the screen, and I’m not just saying that because I got paid.”

7. He has a cameo role in “Choke.”
“I’m not going to tell you where I am, you’ll have to look for me.”

8. He tries to hit up the Space Needle every time he comes to Seattle.

“I was at the top of the Needle the night of the Rodney King riots, watching people break the windows of Nordstrom’s and flying down the street in their cars, and that inspired parts of ‘Invisible Monsters,'” he said. “I’m pretty sure that my mom took me when I was a baby for the World’s Fair.”